Editorial: Selecting House speaker a task fraught with peril

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks to reporters about the fiscal cliff negotiations at the Capitol in Washington Dec. 21.Associated Press file / J. Scott Applewhite

When our nation’s first Congress established itself 224 years ago, the members of the house of Representatives elected a speaker. Each of the 111 Congresses to follow did exactly the same thing. As will the 113th Congress when it meets on Thursday.

The House doesn’t take this step merely to honor some tradition; it elects a speaker because it is mandated to do so by our nation’s Constitution.

The current speaker, John Boehner, R-Ohio, may be re-elected on Thursday. Or he may be replaced. No one will know for sure until the votes have been counted.

There are at present 233 Republicans and 200 Democrats in the House, with two seats vacant. What this means, in practice, is that a mere 17 Republicans, joining with the entire Democratic caucus, would form a majority.

Those who have been unhappy with the tenure of the current speaker, who find themselves rooting for some behind-the-scenes machinations that would produce a new speaker from somewhere offstage, who might find themselves believing that Boehner has been an abysmal failure and that nearly anyone else would be an improvement – these folks would do well to hold their horses. Be careful what you wish for and all of that.

Imagine, say, one of the tea party set, one of the most closed-minded conservative members, wielding the gavel.

All of a sudden, Boehner begins to look quite statesman-like, doesn’t he?

The current climate in Washington didn’t just come about. The partisan gridlock, the inability to get anything done, no matter what, had a long, tortuous gestation.

It is not, in fact, the fault of the current speaker of the House.

Members who would look elsewhere for a solution in a new speaker would do well to proceed with extreme caution.